Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with about 6,700 undergraduate students and about 15,250 post graduate students. Established in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, clergyman John Harvard, Harvard is the United States' oldest institution of higher learning,[9] and its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the world's most prestigious universities.[10] The Harvard Corporation is its first chartered corporation. Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregational and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, and by the 19th century, Harvard had emerged as the central cultural establishment among Boston elites.[11][12] Following the American Civil War, President Charles W. Eliot's long tenure (1869–1909) transformed the college and affiliated professional schools into a modern research university; Harvard was a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900.[13] A. Lawrence Lowell, who followed Eliot, further reformed the undergraduate curriculum and undertook aggressive expansion of Harvard's land holdings and physical plant. James Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College.

The university is organized into eleven separate academic units—ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study—with campuses throughout the Boston metropolitan area:[14] its 209-acre (85 ha) main campus is centered on Harvard Yard in Cambridge, approximately 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Boston; the business school and athletics facilities, including Harvard Stadium, are located across the Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston and the medical, dental, and public health schools are in the Longwood Medical Area.[15] The endowment of Harvard's is worth $37.1 billion, making it the largest of any academic institution.[8]

Harvard is a large, highly residential research university.[16] The nominal cost of attendance is high, but the university's large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages.[17] The Harvard Library is the world's largest academic and private library system, comprising 79 individual libraries holding over 18 million items.[18][19][20] The University is cited as one of the world's top tertiary institutions by various organizations.[21][22][23][24]

Harvard's alumni include eight U.S. presidents, several foreign heads of state, 62 living billionaires, 359 Rhodes Scholars, and 242 Marshall Scholars.[25][26][27] To date, some 157 Nobel laureates, 18 Fields Medalists, and 14 Turing Award winners have been affiliated as students, faculty, or staff.[28] In addition, Harvard students and alumni have won 10 Academy Awards, 48 Pulitzer Prizes,[29] and 108 Olympic medals (46 gold, 41 silver and 21 bronze).[30]

L’université Harvard (Harvard University), ou plus simplement Harvard, est une université privée américaine située à Cambridge, ville de l'agglomération de Boston, dans le Massachusetts. Fondée le 28 octobre 16361, c'est le plus ancien établissement d'enseignement supérieur des États-Unis2,3.

Elle fait partie de l'Ivy League, regroupement informel des huit universités de la côte Est des États-Unis. Plus de 70 de ses étudiants ont reçu un prix Nobel4. Le corps enseignant est constitué de 2 497 professeurs, pour 6 715 étudiants de premier cycle (undergraduate, en anglais) et 12 424 étudiants de cycle supérieur (graduate en anglais). Harvard attire des étudiants du monde entier (132 nationalités représentées en 20045).

ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, iter meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin[1][2][3]) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at replicating the fusion processes of the Sun to create energy on the Earth. Upon completion of construction of the main reactor and first plasma, planned for late 2025,[4] it will be the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment and the largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. It is being built next to the Cadarache facility in southern France.[5][6] ITER will be the largest of more than 100 fusion reactors built since the 1950s, with ten times the plasma volume of any other tokamak operating today.[7][8]

The long-term goal of fusion research is to generate electricity. ITER's stated purpose is scientific research, and technology demonstration of a large fusion reactor, without electricity generation.[9][7] ITERs goals are: to achieve enough fusion to produce 10 times as much thermal output power as thermal power absorbed by the plasma for short time periods; to demonstrate and test technologies that would be needed to operate a fusion power plant including cryogenics, heating, control and diagnostics systems, plus remote maintenance; to achieve and learn from a burning plasma; to test tritium breeding; and to demonstrate the safety of a fusion plant.[8][6]

ITER's thermonuclear fusion reactor will use over 300MW of electrical power to cause the plasma to absorb 50 MW of thermal power, creating 500 MW of heat from fusion for periods of 400 to 600 seconds.[10] This would mean a ten-fold gain of plasma heating power (Q), as measured by heating input to thermal output, or Q ≥ 10.[11] As of 2021, the record for energy production using nuclear fusion is held by the National Ignition Facility reactor, which achieved a Q of 0.70 in August 2021.[12] Beyond just heating the plasma, the total electricity consumed by the reactor and facilities will range from 110 MW up to 620 MW peak for 30-second periods during plasma operation.[13] As a research reactor, the heat energy generated will not be converted to electricity, but simply vented.[6][14][15]

ITER is funded and run by seven member parties: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The United Kingdom participates through EU's Fusion for Energy (F4E), Switzerland participates through Euratom and F4E, and the project has cooperation agreements with Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Thailand.[16]

Construction of the ITER complex started in 2013,[17] and assembly of the tokamak began in 2020.[18] The initial budget was close to €6 billion, but the total price of construction and operations is projected to be from €18 to €22 billion;[19][20] other estimates place the total cost between $45 billion and $65 billion, though these figures are disputed by ITER.[21][22] Regardless of the final cost, ITER has already been described as the most expensive science experiment of all time,[23] the most complicated engineering project in human history,[24] and one of the most ambitious human collaborations since the development of the International Space Station (€100 billion budget) and the Large Hadron Collider (€7.5 billion budget).[25][26]

ITER's planned successor, the EUROfusion-led DEMO, is expected to be one of the first fusion reactors to produce electricity in an experimental environment.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the last pressurised module was fitted in 2011. The station is expected to operate until at least 2028. Development and assembly of the station continues, with components scheduled for launch in 2018 and 2019. The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth.[7][8] The ISS consists of pressurised modules, external trusses, solar arrays, and other components. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and American Space Shuttles.[9]

The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields.[10][11][12] The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars.[13] The ISS maintains an orbit with an altitude of between 330 and 435 km (205 and 270 mi) by means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda module or visiting spacecraft. It completes 15.54 orbits per day.[14]

The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA.[15][16] The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.[17] The station is divided into two sections, the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the United States Orbital Segment (USOS), which is shared by many nations. As of January 2018, the American portion of ISS is being funded until 2025.[18][19][20] Roscosmos has endorsed the continued operation of ISS through 2024[21] but has proposed using elements of the Russian Orbital Segment to construct a new Russian space station called OPSEK.[22]

The ISS is the ninth space station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet and later Russian Salyut, Almaz, and Mir stations as well as Skylab from the US. The station has been continuously occupied for 17 years and 364 days since the arrival of Expedition 1 on 2 November 2000. This is the longest continuous human presence in low Earth orbit, having surpassed the previous record of 9 years and 357 days held by Mir. It has been visited by astronauts, cosmonauts and space tourists from 17 different nations.[23] After the American Space Shuttle programme ended in 2011, Soyuz rockets became the only provider of transport for astronauts at the ISS.

The station is serviced by a variety of visiting spacecraft: the Russian Soyuz and Progress, the American Dragon and Cygnus, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle,[15] and formerly the American Space Shuttle and the European Automated Transfer Vehicle. The Dragon became the only provider of bulk cargo return to Earth (called downmass). Soyuz has very limited downmass capability.

On 28 March 2015, Russian sources announced that Roscosmos and NASA had agreed to collaborate on the development of a replacement for the current ISS.[24][25] NASA later issued a guarded statement expressing thanks for Russia's interest in future co-operation in space exploration but fell short of confirming the Russian involvement.[26][27]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA; /ˈnæsə/) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.[note 1]

NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation, encouraging peaceful applications in space science.[7][8][9] Since its establishment, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System, Commercial Crew vehicles, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for uncrewed NASA launches.

NASA's science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System;[10] advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program;[11] exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons;[12] and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and associated programs.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the National Academy is one of the highest honors in the scientific field. Members of the National Academy of Sciences serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation" on science, engineering, and medicine. The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code.

Founded in 1863 as a result of an Act of Congress that was approved by Abraham Lincoln, the NAS is charged with "providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. … to provide scientific advice to the government 'whenever called upon' by any government department."[2]

The Academy receives no compensation from the government for its services.[3]

The Academy currently has 2,984 members and international members. Existing members elect new members for life. Up to 120 members are elected every year; up to 30 foreign citizens may be elected as international members annually. The election process begins with a formal nomination, followed by a vetting period, and culminates in a final ballot at the Academy's annual meeting in April each year. Members are affiliated with a section -- a specific scientific field -- in one of six so-called "classes": (1) Physical and Mathematical Sciences; (2) Biological Sciences; (3) Engineering and Applied Sciences; (4) Biomedical Sciences; (5) Behavioral and Social Sciences; and (6) Applied Biological, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.[6] Since its founding, the Academy has elected 6,457 members. Harvard University is associated with the most members (329), some 5% of the all-time total. The top ten institutions, half of which are Ivy League universities, account for nearly 28% of all members ever elected.[11]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health. With an annual budget of about $8.3 billion (fiscal year 2020), the NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States' colleges and universities.[4] In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing. In 2016, there were 6.9 million scientists and engineers employed in the United States. The 2020 NSF budget, split per capita, amounts to $1200 per US scientist per year; hence, it is not a practical funding source for most scientists.

The NSF's director and deputy director are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, whereas the 24 president-appointed members of the National Science Board (NSB)[5] do not require Senate confirmation. The director and deputy director are responsible for administration, planning, budgeting and day-to-day operations of the foundation, while the NSB meets six times a year to establish its overall policies. The current NSF director is Sethuraman Panchanathan.

The President, Council and Fellows of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge,[1] commonly known as the Royal Society, is a learned society. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II as "The Royal Society".[1] It is the oldest national scientific institution in the world.[2] The society is the United Kingdom's and Commonwealth of Nations' Academy of Sciences and fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, recognising excellence in science, supporting outstanding science, providing scientific advice for policy, fostering international and global co-operation, education and public engagement.

The society is governed by its Council, which is chaired by the Society's President, according to a set of statutes and standing orders. The members of Council and the President are elected from and by its Fellows, the basic members of the society, who are themselves elected by existing Fellows. As of 2016, there are about 1,600 fellows, allowed to use the postnominal title FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society), with up to 52 new fellows appointed each year. There are also royal fellows, honorary fellows and foreign members, the last of which are allowed to use the postnominal title ForMemRS (Foreign Member of the Royal Society). The Royal Society President is Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who took up the post on 30 November 2015.[3]

Since 1967, the society has been based at 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, a Grade I listed building in central London which was previously used by the Embassy of Germany, London.

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX.[2] It provides satellite Internet access coverage to 32 countries where its use has been licensed, and aims for global coverage.[3][4] As of May 2022 Starlink consists of over 2,300 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which communicate with designated ground transceivers.

The SpaceX satellite development facility in Redmond, Washington, houses the Starlink research, development, manufacturing, and orbit control teams. The cost of the decade-long project to design, build, and deploy the constellation was estimated by SpaceX in May 2018 to be at least US$10 billion.[5] In February 2017, documents indicated that SpaceX expects more than $30 billion in revenue by 2025 from its satellite constellation, while revenues from its launch business were expected to reach $5 billion in the same year.[6][7]

On 15 October 2019, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) submitted filings to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on SpaceX's behalf to arrange spectrum for 30,000 additional Starlink satellites to supplement the 12,000 Starlink satellites already approved by the FCC.[8]

Some astronomers have raised concerns about the constellations' effect on ground-based astronomy and how the satellites will add to an already congested orbital environment.[9][10] SpaceX has attempted to mitigate astronomy concerns by implementing several upgrades to Starlink satellites aimed at reducing their brightness during operation.[11] The satellites are equipped with krypton-fueled Hall thrusters which allow them to de-orbit at the end of their life. Additionally, the satellites are designed to autonomously avoid collisions based on uplinked tracking data.

The University of Cambridge is a collegiate research university in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Founded in 1209[9] and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's fourth-oldest surviving university.[10] The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople.[11] The two English ancient universities share many common features and are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. Cambridge is ranked among the most prestigious universities in the world.

Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 semi-autonomous constituent colleges and over 150 academic departments, faculties and other institutions organised into six schools. All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college. The university does not have a main campus, and its colleges and central facilities are scattered throughout the city. Undergraduate teaching at Cambridge centres on weekly small-group supervisions in the colleges in groups of typically 1–4 students. This intensive method of teaching is widely considered the 'jewel in the crown' of an Oxbridge undergraduate education.[12][13][14][15][16] In addition, lectures, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further supervisions are provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided predominantly centrally.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment combines the oldest university press in the world with one of the world's leading examining bodies, which provides assessment to over eight million learners globally every year. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, as well as a botanic garden. Cambridge's libraries, of which there are over 100, hold a total of around 16 million books, around nine million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. The university is home to, but independent of, the Cambridge Union – the world's oldest debating society. The university is closely linked to the development of the high-tech business cluster known as 'Silicon Fen', the largest technology cluster in Europe.[17] It is the central member of Cambridge University Health Partners, an academic health science centre based around the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

By endowment size, Cambridge is the wealthiest university in Europe.[18][19] In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2019, the central university, excluding colleges, had a total income of £2.192 billion, of which £592.4 million was from research grants and contracts.[4] At the end of the same financial year, the central university and colleges together possessed a combined endowment of over £7.1 billion and overall consolidated net assets (excluding 'immaterial' historical assets) of over £12.5 billion.[20] A member of numerous associations and part of the 'golden triangle' of English universities, Cambridge has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers and actors. As of October 2020, 121 Nobel laureates, 11 Fields Medalists, 7 Turing Award winners, 47 heads of state, and 14 British prime ministers have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, alumni, faculty or research staff.[21] As of 2016, University alumni had won 194 Olympic medals.